Sustainable tourism necessity for survival

Travel and Tourism sector generates substantial revenues through its primary and several subsidiary activities. It is also a major generator of direct as well as indirect employment.  Further, it has a ripple effect in boosting the economy. 

As per WTTC, Travel & Tourism’s direct, indirect and induced impact contribution to the world’s GDP was US$8.9 trillion in 2019, which was 10.3 per cent of the global GDP.  A total of 330 million jobs, that is, 1 out 10 jobs in the world were in this sector. In India the Travel and Tourism industry contributed nearly US $ 194 billion to the economy in 2019, that is, around 6.8 per cent of the total GDP. The number of jobs in this sector was almost 39 million, which translates to 8.0 per cent of the total employment in the country.

Tourists visit a particular country or destination for a variety of reasons. The reasons differ from person to person.  It may be an interest in historical places; desire to learn about various relics and heritage of the past; study diverse cultures, love of flora and fauna, experience the cool mountain breeze, admire the majestic snow clad mountains, enjoy getting tanned on sunny beaches, participating in water sports or shopping for avid shoppers.

The factors that attract tourists fall broadly in three categories, namely, Environment, Culture and Heritage.  Fortunately, India has abundance of all three factors. Unfortunately, the potential of tourism remains largely untapped in India. However, as India proceeds to expand its tourist activity it will do well to remember that all the three factors are fragile in nature and are dependent on Sustainable Tourism.

The flip side of Travel and Tourism activity is that if is left unregulated, it has an adverse impact on the natural resources, causes pollution and damage to the ecology, and the degradation of culture and customs. In due course, Tourism itself becomes a casualty of the unrestrained tourism activity.

Global warming, due to emission of greenhouse gases is  impacting tourism in many countries. The rise in temperatures is resulting in melting of Alaskan glaciers leading to floods in Venice.  The recent glacier burst at Chamoli in Uttarakhand- leading to landslides and floods and massive damage and casualties- demonstrates the fallacy of unregulated construction activity in ecologically fragile mountains and along the banks of the rivers.  It is sadly evident that no lessons were learnt from the earlier disaster at Kedarnath in the year 2013.

The bush fires in 2020, which raged through more than 10 million hectares, reflect Australia’s environment policies a poor light. More than a billion native animals were killed in these fires and hundreds of national parks, hitherto, visited by 100 million visitors every year, have closed down. The bushfires also resulted in thick smog over Sydney.

Nature must be protected, preserved and respected or else natural disasters like the above will keep recurring. The climate crisis is wrecking the lives of millions of people. The irony is that those who did the least to cause the problem are the worst affected.

Neglect of the tenets of Sustainable Tourism destroy Tourism itself over a period of time. Why would tourists flock to tourist destinations where the:

• historic buildings have been ravaged by neglect, vandalism or pollution;
• traditional cultural wealth has been undermined by invasive modern technology;
• Sun is dimmed by poor AQI;
• sea stinks of chemical waste and the marine life turns up dead on the shores;
• sand is hidden beneath discarded polybags and empty plastic bottles;
• forests have been denuded due to deforestation;
• rare species of flora and fauna are becoming extinct;
• colourful and quaint tribes and cultures are facing oblivion; or
• glaciers are melting away fast and threatening to submerge the exotic islands in the ocean.

Sustainable tourism is that which establishes and maintains an optimal balance between the environmental needs and tourism development. Sustainable tourism ensures that development of tourism at a particular destination is a rewarding experience for all stakeholders, that is, the local community, the tourism enterprises, the local government and the tourists visiting that destination. It is, thus, integral to all aspects of tourism development and management.  

A small country, Bhutan, controls its tourism carrying capacity by a fee on visitors and limiting the number of tourists. Bhutan thus continues to be free from crowds and the pollution that comes with them. Madrid, the capital of Spain, and the city of Barcelona have restricted the number of tourists and the building of new hotels to preserve the eco-system.

In order to develop a sustainable tourism and travel, due attention and regard should be paid to following key areas:

• Long-term vision.
• Sound financial and business planning and environmental management.
• Limiting the number of tourists to the carrying capacity of a destination.
• Sensitivity to cultural and social dynamics of a destination.
• Inclusion of all stakeholders, that is, while formulating policies and plans for development and management of a destination.
• Good governance.
• Efficient management, training of staff and appropriate rules for customers to limit wastages, carbon emissions and pollution.
• Use of digital technology for reducing use of paper and other polluting practices.
• Communications and educational programs to create awareness about sustainable development.  

The world faces a race against time to reduce carbon emissions and help reduce the climate change impact. Development cannot take place at the cost of environment, culture and heritage.  It is a short sighted policy to pursue uncontrolled development disregarding the sustainability of the above three factors. The future generations will never forgive us if we do not preserve the bounties of nature and the rich cultures and heritage on this planet for their enjoyment.